Accumulation of Trigonelline in the Leaves of <em>Cannabis sativa</em> L. in Response to Water-Deficit Stress

In a greenhouse setting, we tested for the first time whether there was a difference in the accumulation of trigonelline (TRG) in the leaves of two cultivars of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.), i.e., ‘Jin Ma’ and ‘NWG’ under water-deficit stress by withholding water. Detectable levels of TRG were recorded in the leaves of both cultivars. The level of TRG increased 451% in response to the water-deficit stress treatment (1.64±0.51 OD262/gFW-1 to 7.41±3.64 OD262/gFW-1) in which leaf relative water amount (RWC) decreased 58.8%. However, there was no difference in TRG accumulation between the hemp cultivars. In summary, water-deficit stress influences the TRG and RWC in the leaves of C. sativa but the cultivars did not have any impact on the TRG and RWC lev-el. It is proposed that TRG provides a readily measured water-deficit stress biochemi-cal marker for commercial C. sativa.